1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for the identification and use of metastatic sequences, such as the caveolin gene, to target metastatic cells. The invention further relates to the use of diagnostic and therapeutic agents based on these metastatic sequences for the treatment of neoplastic disorders.
2. Description of the Background
The development of higher organisms is characterized by an exquisite pattern of temporal and spatially regulated cell division. Disruptions in the normal physiology of cell division are almost invariably detrimental. One such type of disruption is cancer, a disease that can arise from a series of genetic events.
Cancer cells are defined by two heritable properties, uncontrolled growth and uncontrolled invasion of normal tissue. A cancerous cell can divide in defiance of the normal growth constraints in a cell leading to a localized growth or tumor. In addition, some cancer cells also gain the ability to migrate away from their initial site and invade other healthy tissues in a patient. It is the combination of these two features that make a cancer cell especially dangerous.
An isolated abnormal cell population that grows uncontrollably will give rise to a tumor or neoplasm. As long as the neoplasm remains noninvasively in a single location, it is said to be benign, and a complete cure may be expected by removing the mass surgically. A tumor or neoplasm is counted as a cancer if it is malignant, that is, if its cells have the ability to invade surrounding tissue. True malignancy begins when the cells cross the basal lamina and begin to invade the underlying connective tissue. Malignancy also occurs when the cells gain the ability to detach from the main tumor mass, enter the bloodstream or lymphatic vessels, and form secondary tumors or metastases at other sites in the body. The more widely a tumor metastasizes, the harder it is to eradicate and treat.
As determined from the epidemiological and clinical studies, most cancers develop in slow stages from mildly benign into malignant neoplasms. Malignant cancer usually begins as a benign localized cell population with abnormal growth characteristics called dysplasia. The abnormal cells acquire abnormal growth characteristics resulting in a neoplasia characterized as a cell population of localized growth and swelling. If untreated, the neoplasia in situ may progress into a malignant neoplasia. Several years, or tens of years may elapse from the first sign of dysplasia to the onset of full blown malignant cancer. This characteristic process is observed in a number of cancers. Prostate cancer provides one of the more clear examples of the progression of normal tissue to benign neoplasm to malignant neoplasm.
The walnut-sized prostate is an encapsulated organ of the mammalian male urogenital system. Located at the base of the bladder, the prostate is partitioned into zones referred to as the central, peripheral and transitional zones, all of which surround the urethra. Histologically, the prostate is a highly microvascularized gland comprising fairly large glandular spaces lined with epithelium which, along with the seminal vesicles, supply the majority of fluid to the male ejaculate. As an endocrine-dependent organ, the prostate responds to both the major male hormone, testosterone, and the major female hormones, estrogen and progesterone. Testicular androgen is considered important for prostate growth and development because, in both humans and other animals, castration leads to prostate atrophy and, in most cases, an absence of any incidence of prostatic carcinoma.
The major neoplastic disorders of the prostate are benign enlargement of the prostate, also called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and prostatic carcinoma, a type of neoplasia. BPH is very common in men over the age of 50. It is characterized by the presence of a number of large distinct nodules in the periurethral area of the prostate. Although benign and not malignant, these nodules can produce obstruction of the urethra causing nocturia, hesitancy to void, and difficulty in starting and stopping a urine stream upon voiding the bladder. Left untreated, a percentage of these prostate hyperplasias and neoplasias may develop into malignant prostatic carcinoma.
In its more aggressive form, malignant transformed prostatic tissues escape from the prostate capsule and metastasize invading locally and throughout the bloodstream and lymphatic system. Metastasis, defined as tumor implants which are discontinuous with the primary tumor, can occur through direct seeding, lymphatic spread and hematogenous spread. All three routes have been found to occur with prostatic carcinoma. Local invasion typically involves the seminal vesicles, the base of the urinary bladder, and the urethra. Direct seeding occurs when a malignant neoplasm penetrates a natural open field such as the peritoneal, pleural or pericardial cavities. Cells seed along the surfaces of various organs and tissues within the cavity or can simply fill the cavity spaces. Hematogenous spread is typical of sarcomas and carcinomas. Hematogenous spread of prostatic carcinoma occurs primarily to the bones, but can include massive visceral invasion as well. It has been estimated that about 60% of newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients will have metastases at the time of initial diagnosis.
Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in men in the USA, resulting in an estimated 41,800 deaths in 1997. (Parker S L, et al., CA Cancer J Clin 47: 5-27, 1997). The widespread use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has dramatically increased the number of patients diagnosed with prostate cancer and generally lowered the stage of disease at diagnosis. (Scardino P T, Urol. Clin. N. Am. 16:635-655, 1989; Epstein J L, et al., JAMA 271: 368-374, 1994). Nevertheless, 5%-10% of cancers detected by PSA screening are clinically advanced and not candidates for radical prostatectomy. Despite surgical removal of the prostate, 30%-60% of men treated will have recurrence of cancer within 5 years, suggesting that the clinical stage of the patients undergoing surgery was highly inaccurate. 20%-57% of patients undergoing definitive surgery with presumed localized disease will have rising PSA following treatment, also indicative of local or distant residual disease. (Ohori M, et al., J. Urol. 154:1818-1824, 1995; Zeitman A L, et al., Urology 43: 828-833, 1994). Unfortunately, neither of these conditions is amenable to curative therapy.
Surgery or radiotherapy is the treatment of choice for early prostatic neoplasia. Surgery involves complete removal of the entire prostate (radical prostatectomy), and often removal of the surrounding lymph nodes, or lymphadenectomy. Radiotherapy, occasionally used as adjuvant therapy, may be either external or interstitial using .sup.125 I. Endocrine therapy is the treatment of choice for more advanced forms. The aim of this therapy is to deprive the prostate cells, and presumably the transformed prostate cells as well, of testosterone. This is accomplished by orchiectomy (castration) or administration of estrogens or synthetic hormones which are agonists of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone. These cellular messengers directly inhibit testicular and organ synthesis and suppress luteinizing hormone secretion which in turn leads to reduced testosterone secretion by the testes. In normal prostate, removal of androgenic hormones results in regression of the gland involving apoptosis of more than 60% of the luminal epithelial cells. Although often initially sensitive to removal of androgens, prostate cancer cells eventually lose this response and continue to grow and spread even in the absence of androgenic steroids. Despite the advances made in achieving a pharmacologic orchiectomy, the survival rates for those with late stage carcinomas are rather bleak.
Current therapeutic regimens for metastatic disease typically involve both chemical and surgical androgen ablation, which although has been demonstrated to extend life when compared to untreated patients, almost invariably results in the development of hormone-refractory disease and the demise of the patient. The fundamental concepts upon which current androgen ablation therapy was developed were reported more than 50 years ago by Huggins and Hodges. (Huggins C, et al., Cancer Res. 1:293-297, 1941). These experiments reported the phenomenon in which removal of androgenic steroids by castration resulted in reduced growth and biochemical activities in prostate cancer.
With the advent of molecular biology, various investigators in laboratories have attempted to understand the molecular biology of castration-induced regression of the prostate at a more mechanistic level. The model systems selected almost invariably compared mRNAs produced prior to castration and during castration-induced regression using rat prostate model systems in vivo. These model systems yield gene activities that may be involved in castration-induced regression but could also be involved in activities that are not directly relevant or related to castration-induced regression but were stimulated by removal of androgenic steroids. It is anticipated that only a small fraction of gene activities modulated by steroid withdrawal would indeed be involved in castration-induced regression and, therefore, significant confounding background activity would be seen in these existing model systems. There is therefore a need for a model system in which the nonrelevant androgenic-stimulated gene activities would be normalized. Moreover, a better understanding of the molecular basis of metastasis as well as hormone insensitivity would allow rational efforts toward the development of novel effective anti-metastasic therapy to proceed.